Piper fly-in canceled for 2020Piper fly-in canceled for 2020

April 21, 2020By Jill W. Tallman

The coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on aviation functions. The International Organization of Women Pilots (The Ninety-Nines) announced April 17 that its annual conference and career expo will be postponed until 2021. The conference was to have been held July 8 through 12 in Long Beach, California.

A Cub taxis for takeoff at the 2012 Sentimental Journey fly-in. Photo by Mike Collins.

“The Ninety-Nines International Board of Directors consider the safety of our members of utmost importance,” The Ninety-Nines President Jan McKenzie said in a letter to members. “With that in mind, we have made the decision to reschedule the 2020 Long Beach conference to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The decision was made after much research and discussion, she said.

An online annual meeting will take place July 11, McKenzie said.

The organization doesn’t yet have a date for the 2021 conference. Traditionally The Ninety-Nines time their conference to enable members to attend that gathering and then travel on to EAA AirVenture, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is generally held in mid- to late July.

Sentimental Journey to Cub Haven, the yearly Piper fly-in held at William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, will not take place in 2020, organizers announced April 9 on Facebook. The group said it is also canceling its annual May pancake breakfast, a fundraiser for the yearly fly-in, which was to have been held in June.

The 2020 event would have been the thirty-fifth fly-in for the group, which celebrates all things Piper at the location of the company’s former factory.

The thirty-sixth annual fly-in is scheduled for June 22 through 26, 2021.

Jill W. Tallman

AOPA Technical Editor

AOPA Technical Editor Jill W. Tallman is an instrument-rated private pilot who is part-owner of a Cessna 182Q.